Asher’s phone rang before he could reach the door of the makeshift office, hazel-gold eyes going wide at the sight of Jael’s name.
He picked up before it could ring the second time, bracing himself for what he would hear.
"Hey," Jael’s raspy voice filled the speaker.
Asher waited with bated breath, he had so many questions but he didn’t want to push Jael away with them.
"Do you remember the gang we tried to pickpocket as kids, only to get thrown in jail?"
Asher frowned, he remembered it all too well. He had been reminiscing about it only a few days ago.
"I knew you would," Jael chuckled, the sound was a little eerie.
"I might need you to come pick me up," He continued after puffing out a cloud of smoke.
That got Asher moving again, "You’re downtown?" He asked in a rush, worried that Jael would disappear again.
Asher hung up without waiting for further information, he already had a vague idea of where Jael was.
The Beta hadn’t sounded great, and he was honestly surprised that Jael had accepted his offer and called for him.
Asher shrugged off his coat and tossed it to one of the men, ignoring the concern and questions in their eyes as he jogged out of the club.
Asher had always needed Jael, even back then when they were kids. Their Mafia House would have completely crumbled if it weren’t for him.
And that was because even before Asher took over, Jael was already handling most of the duties.
Asher burned down the speedometer as he headed downtown, cursing the traffic cursed by the evening rush when he got to Central Area.
When he had been tossed in jail with Jael, two scrawny children who were too mouthy for their own good.
Jael had been the one to make the call and Asher hadn’t been expecting his dad to show up in person.
He drove even faster, caring little about the inconvenient delay getting pulled over would cause.
By the time he was downtown, traffic rules were merely a suggestion so it didn’t matter.
Asher doubted that he could have missed the building, not when he could see the black smoke swirling up to the sky from miles away.
He cursed under his breath as he swerved onto the street which was pure chaos.
The building used to be a church until a gang took over it and turned it into their base of operations, and now, it was in flames.
The fire roared, prompting a crowd of people to gather but no one made an effort to try and put it out.
Emergency services and the police were also mysteriously missing. Asher had a feeling that the cops had been looking forward to someone else taking the gang down for them.
He got out of the car and immediately started searching frantically for Jael. The Beta didn’t strike him as someone who would do charity for the police.
He wasn’t very hopeful that he would get an explanation from the other but he was grateful regardless that Jael would rely on him in this way.
He picked out Jael just a short distance from the fire, smoking without a care in the world.
It wasn’t until Asher got closer that he realized that he was soaked in blood.
He held his breath as he closed the distance between them, hoping that it wasn’t Jael’s blood, or at least most of it wasn’t.
"Nice fit," Asher said dryly, dropping to a crouch beside Jael.
The Beta had a lit cigarette in hand and from the numerous cig butts around him, he had been at it for a while.
"Thanks," Jael croaked, "Made it myself."
"Figured," He offered him a hand, "Can you move?"
Jael took his hand without hesitation, and other than being a little stiff, he didn’t look like he was at death’s door.
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"I didn’t think you were an aspiring arsonist," He quipped as he helped Jael in the car, anything to dilute the tragic scene.
Jael leaned heavily against the passenger seat, his cigarette long gone. "Me neither. It’s fun until you singe your eyebrows."
Asher glanced at Jael’s forehead reflexively, his face twitching with the effort it took not to laugh.
The Beta’s brows were charred, and Asher was certain that underneath the blood smeared on his face were first-degree burns.
"We might need to get you to a stylist first," He said lightly, getting into the driver’s seat.
Jael didn’t respond this time, his dark eyes fixed on the burning building, the sun starting to set.
Asher knew well that this hadn’t been done because of what happened in the past but Jael didn’t seem inclined to tell him why.
He slipped the car key in its slot and waited a bit more for the go-ahead from Jael so they could get him some medical attention.
Jael said instead, making Asher’s heartbeat slow down. As stunned by the news as he was by Jael opening up.
The Beta clutched his side and hissed and Asher immediately recalculated how much damage he had actually taken.
Once again Asher said nothing, knowing now that Jael would tell him more in his own time, if he wanted to.
"She was the sole guardian of her younger brother and he kept getting into scrapes." He scratched his hair, staining it with blood and soot.
"She started working at the mansion to pay off the debt he racked up with a gang and even though I offered to pay it off, she wouldn’t let me." He chuckled at this point, an empty sound.
"They even asked her to reveal some secrets of the mansion to write off her debt but she wouldn’t do that either-" The frustration in Jael’s voice was clear to see, filling up the emptiness.
Jael stared at his hands, he couldn’t save the woman he loved although he had all the power to.